What’s in a Name – Part II

When I first read about long-distance hiking, I filled my head with tales of the Appalachian Trail (AT). One of the aspects of thru-hiking the AT that really caught my fancy was the tradition of trail names. A trail name is a nickname hikers use instead of their real one. You can choose one yourself. However, if you don’t choose one quickly enough, one can be bestowed upon you – for better or for worse.

Did hikers use trail names on the Ice Age Trail? Or was the trail too new, too “still-in-development” to warrant this? I didn’t know, but I quickly decided that if I ever thru-hiked the IAT, I was going to give myself a trail name. A really cool one.

Names Part II: Picking My Trail Name

Well, here I am 1.5 days out, and I haven’t had a minute to think of a trail name. Another problem? I’m not gifted with easily dreaming up catchy names Just ask the members of the former Sun Prairie Surprise, a relay team I led. And, yes, named. (In my defense, I had 60 seconds to think up a name.)

To make matters more urgent, a few seconds ago I got an email from IAT helper extraordinaire, Sharon Dziengel. Sharon told me there are a handful of other thru-hikers out there right now, all hiking east to west, who I will meet as I head west to east. There’s a Mother Goose, a Papa Bear and a Hiking Dude. Also a Joseph, a Pat and a Kehly.

I want to be with the former group come Saturday morning. Because I don’t want to be “Melanie” for the next month. So if any of you want to suggest a cool trail name, I’ll give it my full consideration. But I get the final say.

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